Dedication

On Saturday my dad and step mom came into town (from St Charles, IL) to visit. We hadn't seen them since July 2006. The kids were excited and so was I! Because this was such a special time - hadn't seen my dad in awhile, first time they were seeing John - we decided that this was a perfect opportunity to have John dedicated.

What does that mean???? Some churches do infant baptism but ours dedicates their babies. All of us stand before the congregation and present John. Our pastor asks us some important questions: Do we promise to raise him to know and love the Lord? Do we dedicate him back to the Lord knowing that he is a gift from God? Then he asks the congregation if they commit to coming alongside us in bringing him up to know and love the Lord?

My favorite part was being able to give testimony about John. I wanted to share with all of you what I shared (to the best of my recollection).

Many of you know that we had difficulty getting pregnant with the twins and were told by the doctors that we would not be able to have more children without medical assistance. So last winter when we found out we were pregnant we were surprised to say the least. We decided to name him John which means God has been gracious. This was a very fitting name. During my pregnancy we went through a few months of difficult transitioning James from Early Intervention to public preschool. Through it all I was feeling good and remained healthy. No morning sickness really and a decent amount of energy. Having a boy also meant that we could pass on the name David. Along with being my husband's name it is also the name of David's dad's brother who passed away as a teenager. It is a special family name and we were glad to be able to pass it on. It is also a tradition in our family to give our children two middle names. So we decided to give John the name Charles after a very dear friend. He has been like a brother to both me and David. He is a special man of God who has been there with us both on our walk with the Lord.

The last thing that our pastor does during a dedication is present the child with a verse. Our pastor chose John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." Fitting for a life lived to glorify the Lord.